Use it up! Don't throw it in the bin!

meritaten

Chipps wrote: »

I used to think that - and certainly wouldn't buy them, at least not while I am able to prepare veg. But then I thought, what a godsend to people who are disabled or have arthritis and really can't do it themselves.

yes - but the people I have noticed buying them, arent in that category - they do tend to be younger, smartly dressed and have lots of convenience foods in the trolley!

Rowan9

broccoli stalks go straight into the freezer (not wrapped) - I take them out and chop up when making soup - they defrost really quickly, within half an hour you can chop them safely. Same with cauli leaves and stalks - straight into freezer and then add to soup or stews when needed.

RAS

This is a Mel Bartholomew idea for very small amounts of veg if you have more than enough for your portions but not enough to leave for another meal. it does require that you devise a few recipes that are good for leftover. the same would work for some meat.

So cook your veggies as normal, serve up and put the extra into a freezer box. Gradually build up layers of cooked veg required for your recipe, say potato, leek, onion, and carrot in one, sweetcorn and peas in another. When the box is full enough you have the basic ingredients for a soup and a stirfry.

Save bacon rinds, parmesan rinds and shells from shellfish to flavour stocks and soups.

Use wrinkled veggies and fruit for soups or to make pickles and chutneys.

Flibsey

the suspect veg from the back of the fridge in our house goes into "bendyveg surprise". this is a thick soup which can also be used as sauces.
we all hate bread and butter pudding traditionally made, but if made with the bread buttered with asda dark chocolate spread it goes down a treat!

Flibsey

since growing my own veg I've been surprised at how much I didn't even know was being trimmed! Asda's caulis look naked now!

I love making coleslaws from different things, for instance I'm not a fan of beetroot cooked, but raw and grated in salads I love it.

The green bit of spring onions is amazing, and I keep the manky bits off the ends of the leaves (the bits which are a little too soft to be tasty) and the root end for when we have duck. it's a rare treat for us, but two duck legs steamed over a pan of water into which has gone all my frozen spring onion bits, a star anise and half a cinnamon stick is just stunning. steam for 1.5 hours checking on the water level regularly, allow to cool completely and then deep fry for the crispy chinese effect. Like I say, it's a twice a year treat. My birthday and The Man's! I was given the recipe and the freezing of the onion tip by the wife of the local combination martial arts store and chinese supermarket. Thanks Mrs Kam!!!

also broccolli stalks go well in coleslaw, and so do the leaves of the plant; we don't have a big garden and my purple sprouters were getting too big for their boots last autumn hahaha!

meritaten

my OH likes Cauliflower and Potato mash. I have a confession to make..........I save the stalks of Cauli and when I do C & P mash, I only use the stalks chopped finely. Have done this for a couple of years now - and he has never noticed I dont use the florets of cauli!

ceridwen

meritaten wrote: »

my OH likes Cauliflower and Potato mash. I have a confession to make..........I save the stalks of Cauli and when I do C & P mash, I only use the stalks chopped finely. Have done this for a couple of years now - and he has never noticed I dont use the florets of cauli!

You're giving me an idea here - ie doing that and then maybe topping off with some breadcrumbs (saved bits of bread:)) and scattering of grated cheese, coupla slices of tomato to finish, flash under grill and ...bingo....full dinner for me:)

RAS

Another one from the past. X was veggie and we both worked away from home most weeks, so stuff needed to be used up or sorted before we went to bed on Sunday night.

We baked bread many weekends and were discussing what to do with a part portion of bean stew? Somewhere the idea of making breadrolls stuffed with the remains of the stew can up. We did not know about calzone but the idea is similiar. It worked, so from that time onwards left overs became Monday buns, a nice change from the inevitable cheese or hummus sarnies. Basically take a small portion of dough (or some pastry) and roll it out into a circle for each bun. Mash the stew a bit, you want it moist enough to be nice to eat after it has been cooked (it will dry out a bit) but no sloppy and divide between the buns. You can add a bit of cheese or chutney. Wrap over the dough to cover and puinch the dough to seal it. Please join side down on a baking tray and leave to prove. Bake.

Also works with left over ratatouille and left over curry, as long as they are not too sloppy. The rat benefits from a bit of cheese stirred in. And the odd unused bolied potato can be chopped and mixed in any of them.

Other uses for left over bean stew:

Make pancakes, fill with stew and then cover with white sauce, flavoured with mushroom or cheese or mustard if you want. Bake or grill depending on how many you have.

Or just mash and make into a rough veggie pate to eat with oatcakes or as a sanwich filler. Start with it fairly dry and add a bit more liquid if you need it.

ALIBOBSY

Jamie O has a recipie in the 30 mins meal book where he makes a brocolli pasta sauce I have been meaning to try. He takes the florets off and cooks separately to stir in towards the end, but the stalks get blitzed in the processor with some anchovys/garlic/oil/chilli/caper(yack would miss these out). This becomes a sort of paste base for the pasta sauce.

I also read somewhere about a pasta sauce based on cauliflower cooked down in cream or milk and mashed up-this would then work fine with the caul stalks.

Since starting to grow our own it is really interesting to see how much edible stuff our "modern" farming/food supply systems waste.
Cauli leaves are like slightly sweeter cabbage leaves, in fact any brassica produces edible leaves-raddish tops are nice when small in salads.
Broad bean/bean tops and young leaves, pes shoots edible flowers all are great.

I suspect alot of what gets cut off veggies is so that they can get more per box/tray to be shipped to the shops/stacked on the shelves and I bet alot of the cut bits go into stir fries/salads/ready meals, but I also bet alot is just wasted.
I must admit though we have 2 cats and the chooks so sometimes if I can't be bothered sorting out leftovers they go to one or both of them same when we used to have rabbits, sometimes it is easier just to give it to them than saveit/freeze it/sort it for us lol.
Ali x

ceridwen

Two more thoughts I'd forgotten about:

1. WATERMELON RIND
Use the watermelon rind (apart from the green outer edge!) as food.
To date - I've made it into a drink:

2 cups rind
one-eighth cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
8 ice cubes

- Blitz in a liquidizer or food processor till slushy

NICE:D

2. BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS
- Clean and roast in a little oil with a bit of salt

NICE:D

Havent found roasting any other seeds has "worked" for me to date - but B.S. Squash ones do:)